Velodrome 19th January 2018

As usual racing sessions over the summer holidays are poorly attended with some riders on holidays and others having major events to attend so Friday night was similar to other years with just 3 riders racing. However the Wednesday training sessions are back in full swing with the coach Tony Smith again running the motor bike for pacing efforts.

The riders had great conditions on Friday night with the sun dropping and shade extending across the track. The first event was a 1 lap time trial. Kate Geary clocked in at 47.12 sec with Renee Hardacre at 52.20 sec. Tom Fitzgerald rode a 35.53 sec lap on a small gear and swapped to a bigger gear and rode 34.83 sec. However that was still not his personal best for the season.

The riders then raced a 1 lap handicap. Renee Hardacre(100) was slow to get wound up and allowed kate Geary (80) to bridge the gap however she was not able to come round so Renee held on for a narrow win from Kate and a fast finishing Tom(scr). A revised handicap over 1 lap saw Renee(80) make it a double but Tom managed to finish second and Kate (65) 3rd.

A sprint match between Kate and Renee saw a determined Kate hit the front at the 200m mark and hold a good lead to the finish. This was followed by a 2 lap handicap. In a good result for the handicapper the riders crossed the line as one with Tom Fitzgerald taking the win from Kate(170) and Renee(160) in 3rd.

The club has finalised a fixture for the balance of the year which features a number of combines with the Gippsland Clubs, some social rides of a Sunday and hopefully a new race course once the works on Hudsons Rd are complete. Check out the Club website.